Challenge

I've faced another challenge once again. I've become sick again because of my lack of rest. This may seem extremely avoidable, but fitting in the work I want to accomplish both physically and mentally is difficult. There simply isn't enough hours in a day to do it all. Making schedules is nice, but mine is jam packed with things to do and not enough rest to the point it's physically draining me. I hope this does not affect my end goal, but it most definitely is something I've learned from this experience.

My health is obviously very important to me, so it's discouraging knowing that I caused myself to get to this point, but looking at the positive aspect, I can learn from this mistake. After my crazy busy soccer run, I should have rested more. Next time I will most definitely do so.

Pregame

In the last few weeks, I have been playing soccer five days a week at least. I have had five games a week and three practices a week on average. I was planning on working out as an individual to reach my end goal, but I now realize team sports are what motivate me most. I have also tried to fit in individual workouts as well to focus on things I need to improve on, but enough about my busy schedule. I'd like to expand on what I do to prepare to workout.

Lately I have realized I need to make sure I prepare for my workouts. When I used to play club soccer, our coaches gave us a list of rules we had to follow in regards to pregame preparation. I know now that I need to have a good sleep before I workout otherwise I won't be able to perform at my best. In addition to a good rest, I make sure I drink water constantly. If I drink anything with a lot of sugar before a workout, I will feel sick and fatigued. Also, I do not eat less than an hour before I do any sort of physical exercise for similar reason. Before important games, I like to take time to work on my mental game and visualize the field. This is important for my own game because it gives me time to relax and think about how to win the game.

I've seen that it's the important games I face that motivates me to work as hard as I can. I find joy in playing well and succeeding, putting in the most work I can to get the best result. Whether your playing team sports or individual sports, the happiness you can get out of it is what it's all about.

Motivation

In the last couple weeks I have been focusing my time on my own personal motivation and seeing what motivates me most. I found that recording my meal plans and calorie intake was personally not as beneficial as I thought it would be. My schedule has became a lot more busy than it was at the beginning of my project so my updates have become less, but the work I have been doing has been more than I could've ever expected.

I am playing for two soccer teams, one recreational team and one school team. At the beginning I wasn't playing soccer yet, I was just working out on my own. I practice twice a week with each team and have been having three games a week and I have noticed that team sports motivate me more than anything. I worked out alone and with someone else, but with no one really holding me accountable to be there and work out I never really got into the routine. As I get older, I would like to look into team sports I can play throughout university to keep up my physical activity and I would love to share that research with you as soon as possible.

One thing I've found about myself that I never realized before is that I use individual exercise as a way to relax, who would've thought? 1 Timothy 4:8 says, "For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." When I exercise individually, I find it gives myself good time to spend with God. I find myself being motivated after a long day to take some time to be alone and go on a long bike ride or rollerblade so I can listen to music and look at the nature He has created.

In the end, I have found myself be very motivated to work out and be healthy because when I live healthy, I feel so much better about myself and gain all the confidence I've lost. Your body is one thing you generally have control over taking care of, so it is very important that you do.

I will be posting my results closer to my final goal date where I hope to reach my goal weight.

The Newest News

One of my goals of this project was to learn more about eating disorders. I wanted to learn more about this because I am interested in the human body and how it works, especially put under more unhealthy circumstances. There were many parts of this complex subject I hadn't previously known, so I took the time to research in detail what I need to know about the topic. The disorder I learned about was anorexia.

The disorder I researched this week was anorexia. This sickness comes from a fear of gaining wait, particularly when the person is very thin already. Mentally they believe that they cannot gain weight, they just need to lose weight. It can have several causes, especially change. For example, losing friends or family, traumatic life events, where you live, your personality, and genetics. One interesting thing I found while researching this subject is that anorexia is 85-95% females, it is much more uncommon among males. This interested me because I feel as though women have much more pressure than men when it comes to physical appearance. There are media influences everywhere showing what society likes to think of as "perfect", which is what many girls strive do be. As a friend or family member, I must imaging it would be very difficult to watch someone starve themselves because they don't believe they are beautiful.

Being a Christian, I like to relate topics like this to the bible. The first mind that comes to mind is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies." He created us all in his image, and he wants us to honour him with our bodies. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, and I believe that everyone has the right to know this. We should help those that struggle to understand this truth.

If you want to read more about anorexia, you can click on the web address below.

http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/anorexia-nervosa.html

4/20

It's been a month into working out and I'm down 4.7 pounds! I've been having an exciting time being able to find new ways to exersize and diet plans that work better for me and my schedule. With my mentor, I went through some apps that might help me keep track of eating. I'm going to start tracking my diet and calorie intake this week which I'm super pumped about. This could potentially make me lose weight at a faster pace, which could be helpful. My main goal at this point in my journey is to be happy and healthy, which I have been acheiving so far.

One thing I've been faced with is getting bored of my workout schedule. What I'm going to do to overcome this obstical is find more fun ways to work out. I found a video of girls doing soccer tricks on youtube, and I plan to work toward being able to do these tricks. These tricks will give be a hard workout, and I'll also be having a lot of fun in the process. One thing I am worried about with doing this sort of workout is getting frusturated when I fail, which I will. I've done soccer tricks in the past, so maybe the past knowledge with the new motivation to practice can give me more patience.

I hope to get more about my meal plan onto my blog, as well as possibly some videos of me doing these tricks I would like to learn. Stay tuned for more updates! :)

Introduction

2/20

Starting on Tuesday, February 3rd, I decided to try to reach a goal of losing 20 pounds in 20 weeks. I chose this as a goal I could use for my passion project because I wanted to carefully choose a subject that may have been more challenging for me. As a student, I generally like to think inside the box and remain inside my comfort level, but this goes over and beyond anything I've ever thought of attempting. Not only do I want to lose the weight, but I'd like to learn more about the body and how it works. For example, how your muscles react to working out, eating disorders and the effects they may have, how your body changes over time, etc. As you know, weight is an extremely touchy subject with especially women, so I'd like to make this more of a comfortable subject for myself and anyone involved in my project.

Not everything in your life is in your control, but your success with health and exercise is almost entirely in your hands. Creating a healthy meal plan and workout schedule can make you feel much more in control and better overall. Even over the passed two weeks, I feel as though I'm getting into a more consistent schedule. It becomes easier over time because you get used to your schedule and how it is and isn't working for you. So far, I've lost the amount I had in mind which is very satisfying. Over the next week I would like to research more about health and fitness as well as eating disorders that may cause your health to deteriorate. I will continue to update you on my progress and findings. Thanks for reading along!